THE STORY BEHIND A CAR BRAND - AN INTRODUCTION

In short, every car brand needs a personal brand story, a unique image, attached to it in order to  convince investors. How to tell a brand story will be the subject of this article.

When pitching your idea of a car brand to investors it's very important to pack everything into a compelling narrative. In other words, into a story that brings together all the relevant information and presents it in an appealing way. According to DocSend, venture capitalists spend only 3 minutes and 44 seconds on average on reviewing a pitch deck.

This leads to the fact that even for a complex topic, such as the development of a car brand, only a few presentation slides are available to capture the investors' attention and awaken their interest in your business idea. A popular and successful technique to get those ideas across efficiently is storytelling.

THE BENEFITS OF STORYTELLING IN AN INVESTOR PITCH FOR A NEW CAR BRAND

The art of storytelling has grown more and more popular over the last decade. But actually, storytelling has been utilized by people since the beginning of time. Storytelling is a structural element at heart that gives communication a clear procedure based on the representation of a problem and its solution.

It is a powerful method in presenting information in a fast and easily memorable way, for example in an elevator pitch for new a car brand. Through breaking down the basic arguments needed to present the new entrants project and goals, a structure for the pitch deck is developed.

This makes it not only easier to define the relevant information needed in the new entrant’s pitch, it also creates a compelling story arc that logically organizes those arguments. In the end it’s all about promoting the worth and potential of the automotive vision to get investors interested and thereby provide funding more likely.

WHAT IS AN EQUITY STORY OF A CAR BRAND?

In short, an equity story tells the fundamental ideas of the new entrant’s business and vision of his new car brand. It covers all compelling arguments for an investor to start funding the new car brand. These include

• the successes and milestones,
• core competences of the team and the USP that sets them apart from other competitors on the market,
• existing shareholding structures,
• the financial track record, and a
• medium-to-long-term outlook and strategy.

However, an equity story of a car brand is more than just a list of topics and data. Its key goal is to highlight a certain problem of the target audience. A problem, to which the new entrant can provide the perfect solution for: their vehicle.

FIVE STEPS TOWARDS YOUR OWN CAR BRAND STORY

Every car brand promoted via storytelling focusses on the problem it solves for the customer. Some products, such as toothpaste, can communicate the customer’s problem very straightforward. Other problems, such as the need for comfort, are harder to grasp.

A new entrant to the automotive market should always be able to answer the following questions:

• What problem does their car brand solve and why is it the only option available on the market to solve it?
• Why should customers buy their specific vehicle instead of a different vehicle?

The answer to this question encompasses the two fundamental storytelling basics: problem and solution. Here’s a possibility of how a new entrant can create to their own automotive story to highlight the most important qualities to investors:

1. Know your market:
What problems are there to solve? What do customers need?

2. Specify your vision:
Which of these problems can your car brand solve? What’s your USP?

3. Show competence:
Why are you the right person/company for the job?

4. Outline a better future:
What do the future customers and the market gain through your car brand? How does the ideal outcome look like?

5. Convince the investor:
How does an investor profit from working with you and funding your project? What are the milestones that lead to this vision of the future?

Ideally, these five steps contain all the relevant financial, business and vehicle data necessary for creating a compelling pitch deck.

YOU TOLD THE STORY BEHIND YOUR CAR BRAND? SO WHAT’S NEXT?

When looking for investors and preparing for a pitch there’s a lot to
be considered:

• How to find the right investors?
• What makes a good pitch?
• Which data is most relevant to potential investors?

Solving these questions require a fair amount of work, but it’s a quintessential effort to find an angel investor who not only funds an automotive project but also supports the project with resources, connections and know-how.

A personal equity story is an important foundation for approaching and winning over investors as well as potential customers in the future.

.